Costa Rica awarded £1mn via Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Earthshot Prize

Photo by Louis Maniquet

Costa Rica is one of the first five winners of the Earthshot Prize, which awards £1mn to nominees “developing solutions” pertaining to nature conservation, waste management, ocean revival, air quality, and/or climate change. Funded by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Earthshot Prize, whose name pays homage to US President John F. Kennedy’s famous “moonshot” pledge in 1961 to put a man on the moon within 10 years, was established to support 50 projects over the next decade to address environmental challenges here on earth. Costa Rica was awarded the prize for its “national system that reversed deforestation by paying citizens to restore forests.” At the awards ceremony in London last Sunday, whose guests ranged from David Attenborough to Coldplay, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada accepted the prize on behalf of his government, declaring: “What we have achieved in this small country in Central America can be done anywhere. Will continue recognizing nature as our most valuable asset.” 

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